Guwahati, April 28: In a first meeting of its kind, all senior officials of the department of housing and urban affairs (DoHUA), officers of the town and country planning department, chairpersons of town development authorities and town planners of every municipality in Assam came together on one platform to chart a roadmap for the future of an urban Assam.
The brainstorming and interactive meeting held at the convention centre in Tezpur on Friday brought to the fore several innovative solutions to the challenges of urban planning, with officials sharing their insights, expertise and ground level experiences.
“Several expert committees will been constituted to suggest reforms, amend bye-laws of the Town and Country Planning (T&CP) Act, liaise and coordinate between concerned agencies and ensure the effective implementation of the urban development master plans being prepared for each town of Assam,” DoHUA minister Ashok Singhal informed.
The meeting, Singhal said, has helped the participants brainstorm solutions and fine tune implementation strategies for the future of urban Assam.
“Such regular meetings, held in intervals of three months, will pave the way forward for the development of urban Assam,” the minister said.
Later, taking to Twitter, the minister posted: “Glad to chair an interactive open meet of DoHUA at Convention Centre, Tezpur today, on the ‘Development of Systematic, Vibrant and Inclusive Cities’ across Assam.”
The meeting focused on issues pertaining to town planning & urban development with specific reference to the following topics such as rollout of services and the role of town planners and development authorities; Mukhya Mantrir Sohoj Griha Nirman Achoni (MMSGNA); online building permission system (OBPS); transferable development rights (TDR); transit oriented development (TOD); unified building bye-laws vis-à-vis impact on revenue generation of development authorities and urban reforms.
.